Aug 15. 2014. Headache

1. 1^st Headache Indicator

You surrender, cockroaches! I have switched the room, but the situation was the same. I calculated how many cockroaches I would see if I kept staying at this lodge. I saw maximum 7 cockroaches a day, some other times, I see 2 cockroaches a day; let’s say the average number of cockroaches I would see daily is 5. Those guys must be multiple species; size, shape, color, and resistance to insect killer are all different. I will have stayed in Tanzania for 60 days, so a total of cockroaches I have to kill in the room would be 5 x 60 = 300. Since I am not cockroach biologist, I do not really have to say hello to hundreds of those guys. I could not bear to see my enemy any more, so on Monday, I asked Central Zone cluster leader, pastor Licky, to change my home. Luckily, he appreciated my transparency; it is better than say nothing and suffer from cockroach zone. But it would take some time to move to another home, probably the new place would be available next week, so I had to fight with them at least one another week.

Surprisingly, the number of those guys detected per day has been dramatically decreased from 5 to 2. I become a wonderful exterminator! Thoroughly spraying insect killer has made my room low density of cockroaches. I thought I was okay to keep staying here as long as I see them less than 2 per day. To be honest, I was tired of packing and moving, so I really wanted to stay calm where I was. I looked back into my history of moving chronologically since I came to Africa.

’24 hours of flight for Sierra Leone, Family Kingdom Hotel for a week, Freetown apartment, 8 hours of driving for Yea Mamie Guesthouse in Mattru, 8 hours of driving for Freetown apartment, 8 hours of driving for Yea Mamie Guesthouse in Mattru again, 2 hours of driving and speedboat for Sherbro Island Guesthouse, 9 hours of immediate return to Freetown apartment, 2-day flight for Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania, Messuma Hotel in Dar es Salaam for 2 days, and now, here I am in Calman lodge, Dodoma, Tanzania!’

I have packed up and unpacked so many times! What is worse, I brought two big heavy luggages that made me hard whenever I move. Kenya Airways charged $160 for those two luggages to send them to Tanzania due to overweight. When I come back to Africa next time, I will absolutely pack things conveniently in order to move anywhere simply. I need some time to breathe in the same place. Cockroach, you go away! I will not leave. Unfortunately, poisonous spray has made me feel headache every morning; I may have to use my bare foot and hand to stun and kill them from now. Does Jackie Chen have capacity to do that?

2^nd headache indicator

I have got a headache when I hear Swahili for a long period of time, especially in church. I went to pastor Licky’s church again last Sunday, and all sermons, hymns, and testimonies were spoken by Swahili for 4 hours. Licky was vice-pastor in the church, so he did not preach a sermon, sat right left side of me and whispered translated English in my ear. Unfortunately, I could not hear his English either because Swahili sermon through the microphone was too loud for me to understand what Licky was saying. I was frustrated that I never knew Swahili, felt bad for Licky, and powerful sermon wave hit my head, so I felt heavy blow of dizzy and headache.

3^rd headache indicator

In the office, there was another headache situation for Denice and me. The qualitative study draft report due was close at hand, which was today, but I could never finish it on time. Even if it is so called draft, I could not just submit it and say bye; it should look pretty and entertain readers’ eye! I did not know any good function in the Microsoft Word, so I was struggling with demonstrating cool things in my document that I would want to map out. Computer itself and any computer program never listen to me! Oh, my title! You stay on the front line, don’t move! I was brutally thwarted in my ambition to use this Microsoft Word for 2013 Version 14.4.3., but I was fortunate to have Denice, who owned PhD for MacBook & Microsoft Word! It was amazing that she knew most of MacBook functions and shortcuts, and Word formatting and style. She instantly set all title as Heading, went to Paragraph, Line and Page Break and set Page break before. Wow, the titles finally stuck on each page! I have been suspicious who wants to know all functions in the program, but Dr. Denice does! My headache was suddenly mitigated, thanks to her help. She has just started using Windows 8 through Parallel program with her MacBook, so I also gave relief to her from the Windows 8 frustration.

4. 4^th Headache Indicator

This was not the end. There was a final wave of headache for today. Lives Saved Tool, LiST! I took Modeling Change in Maternal, Neonatal and Child Mortality (LiST) class during 4^th term, but to be honest, there are so many other details about this tool that I have not explored. This 2-credit class drove me hectic for whole 2 months: 5 assignments, mid-term exam, and the final group presentation. It took all day long to finish projecting files and making slide shows every week. This class was provided at my school for the first time, and it was not even my coursework requirement, but I decided to take it to use LiST in Africa. Now, here I am in Africa. Am I LiST expert? Haha. Just like I have been using really really basic function of Microsoft Word, I may know the basic of LiST. Anyway, I can use both with little disturbance, and I can ask anything that I want to demonstrate to real Microsoft experts and LiST experts. Denice looked a serious-minded person whole day, and gave a stony glare at her MacBook screen. My friend, what is going on? She was comparing numerous indicators in LQAS Results data with indicators in LiST. I know… this must be tedious, and I have not even started yet. There is only one Vitamin A indicator, Vitamin A supplementation, in LiST, but there are 9 Vitamin A indicators in LQAS data. What is it? There is only one stunting indicator in LQAS data, but there are 4 stunting indicators in LiST. What is it? So sorry, my friend. We have no shortcut for doing this. We just need enough time to adjust and match with each data.

5. No more Headache Indicator!

My current headache indicators are brand-new that can only become effective in Africa. In our life, there are no unified or standardized indicators to explain the situation. Some people say this, some other people say that. One of the weirdest English words to me is “badass!” Why this word can be translated into “Wow, you are awesome?” I just want to take this word what dictionary says, “a touch, aggressive, or uncooperative person.” Likewise, we have bunch of data, and even if the data say the same thing, such as “badass,” but some people may take it positively, but some other people may take it negatively. We, qualitative study researchers have important responsibility to look at all documents and data to analyze AIM-Health project in the most reasonable way. That is why I am somewhat seized with fear; how much can I make the best suggestion with a full confidence by using LiST? How much I trust LiST result? Oh no… I have a symptom of another headache. Let me take some rest. There will be another sunrise tomorrow.

I want to be your good friend, LiST!